This invention relates generally to load spacing fillers and associated supporting means which enable one to suspend such fillers between stacks of freight during transportation thereby preventing shifting and possible damage to such freight and more particularly to such support devices which do not require any attachment provisions within the transporting unit itself.
Collapsible honeycomb structured load spacers are commonly used to fill gaps or spaces between stacks of freight within transporting vehicles so as to insure against shifting of the cargo during the transportation thereof. Generally, the honeycomb structure is fabricated from a plurality of strips of corrugated fiberboard material secured together at spaced apart locations in such a manner as to provide a plurality of open ended cells extending between adjacent vertical surfaces when in an expanded condition. Generally the structure will be fabricated in such a manner as to allow it to be easily collapsed into a relatively compact package for storage or shipment. Support means are generally provided at the top portion of these spacers so as to allow the force of gravity to assist in retaining the spacer in an expanded condition between adjacent verticle surfaces.
Often the transporting vehicle will not have any provisions for attaching supporting means thereto so as to allow the load spacer to be properly suspended or even if such provisions are incorporated therein, they may not be positioned in the required location. Therefore, it is desirable to provide support means integrally with the load spacer. Further, as these load spacers are suitable for repeated uses it is desirable to provide support means which may be easily removed from an operative position within the freight transporting unit without damage thereto thus enabling the support device and associated load spacer to be reinstalled between subsequent loads. It is, therefore, important that the support device be designed to allow it to be folded along with the honeycomb spacer into a compact and light weight package so as to facilitate economical return shipment and storage thereof.
Accordingly, the present invention fully meets these diverse objectives by providing a support means having a horizontally outwardly projecting flange portion which may be securely fastened to an interior horizontal wall portion of an upper cell of the honeycomb structure and is adapted to be folded along with the collapsed honeycomb structure into a light weight compact package. The support device of the present invention is suitable for use with any type of transporting unit as it requires no attachment to the vehicle itself, but rather has a lower flange which is held between the top of a lower parcel of freight and the bottom of an upper parcel of freight and an upper flange which may be secured to the vertical sidewall of the upper parcel thereby forming a horizontally extending cantilevered support for the load spacer. This support device is designed to be easily installed and removed without damage to either the parcels, the load spacer, or the support device itself. Further, the support device may be easily and inexpensively fabricated from light weight corrugated fiberboard materials such as those used to fabricate the honeycomb spacer thus minimizing the weight thereof and making return shipment economically feasible.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.